Following in the footsteps of the Centre, the Rajasthan government on Wednesday banned the use of beacons by ministers and officers. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje issued an order, asking ministers and officers to remove beacons from their vehicles and said in a statement "we have implemented the ban in the state with immediate effect".
Following in the footsteps of the Centre, the Rajasthan government on Wednesday banned the use of beacons by ministers and officers. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje issued an order, asking ministers and officers to remove beacons from their vehicles and said in a statement "we have implemented the ban in the state with immediate effect".
"It is the foresightedness of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is an important step towards a people-friendly government. It will end the VIP culture and will connect people with the government in a better way," she said. Before issuing the order, Raje posted on Twitter: "Curtailing the use of #RedBeacon is a welcome & forward looking step towards having more people-friendly Government (sic)."
Following the order, Rajasthan Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Arun Chaturvedi, and Chairman of State Women Commission, Suman Sharma, removed red beacons from their vehicles. Raje had removed the red beacon light from her vehicle immediately after taking over as Rajasthan Chief Minister on December 13, 2013.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too ordered removal of red beacons from the cars of all VVIPs in the state with immediate effect. Patnaik also took the red beacon off his official car. The Chief Minister issued a directive in this regard hours after the Union Cabinet decided to ban use of beacon lights atop vehicles of dignitaries and government officials. The Union Cabinet's decision comes into effect from May 1.
"The Chief Minister returned to his residence from the state secretariat after removing the red beacon from his official vehicle," a communication received from the Chief Minister's Office said.
Last month, Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly Narasingha Mishra had stopped using the red beacon on his official vehicle. The Union Cabinet has decided that beacon lights will be removed from all vehicles, except emergency vehicles, like ambulances and fire brigade.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also removed the red beacon from his official car, in the wake of the Union Cabinet's decision to take the beacon off all the vehicles, including that of the Prime Minister. "Maharashtra welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's. step towards ending VIP culture by stopping the use of red beacons atop VIP vehicles," Fadnavis said in a tweet.
"And to celebrate such epic step for strengthening our democracy, I have stopped using the RedBeacon atop my car," he said in another tweet.
Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet decided that beacon lights will be removed from all vehicles, except emergency vehicles, like ambulances and fire brigade.
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